the story behind the story: the ring on the beach

I’m often inspired by unusual news items, and I’ll keep a note of them so I can use them to spark an idea at a later date. One story that caught my attention, was this one, about a ring found on a beach 43 years after it was lost – I wondered about how the find could have affected the person who found it; what if the ring was a wedding ring rather than an engagement ring, and what if the person who found it, had marital issues of their own to deal with? How could this ring, a symbol of love left buried on a beach for so many years, heal the finder’s marriage? The result of my musings was a story, aptly titled The Ring on the Beach, subsequently bought by The People’s Friend, and published as Lost and Found, in this week’s edition.

Just goes to show how sometimes, looking at a story or an idea from a different angle, can lead to a worthwhile piece of writing.